John Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer, sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs" or "the Ovid of Ossining." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the suburbs of Westchester, New York, and old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy, Massachusetts, where he was born.
His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.
His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.
Genres: Literary Fiction
Novels
The Day the Pig Fell Into the Well (1954)
Bullet Park (1969)
The World of Apples (1973)
Falconer (1977)
The Leaves, the Lion-Fish and the Bear (1980)
Oh What a Paradise It Seems (1982)
The Angel of the Bridge (1987)
Bullet Park (1969)
The World of Apples (1973)
Falconer (1977)
The Leaves, the Lion-Fish and the Bear (1980)
Oh What a Paradise It Seems (1982)
The Angel of the Bridge (1987)
Collections
The Way Some People Live (1943)
The Enormous Radio (1953)
Stories (1956) (with others)
The Housebreaker of Shady Hill (1958)
Some People, Places, and Things That Will Not Appear in My Next Novel (1961)
The Brigadier and the Golf Widow (1965)
The Stories of John Cheever (1978)
The Stories of the Supernatural (1987)
Collected Stories (1990)
The Uncollected Stories of John Cheever: 1930-1981 (1990)
Fall River (1994)
Thirteen Uncollected Stories by John Cheever (1994)
Best of John Cheever (2001)
Vintage Cheever (2005)
Poolside (2007) (with others)
Collected Stories and Other Writings (2009)
Complete Novels (2009)
A Vision of the World (2021)
The Enormous Radio (1953)
Stories (1956) (with others)
The Housebreaker of Shady Hill (1958)
Some People, Places, and Things That Will Not Appear in My Next Novel (1961)
The Brigadier and the Golf Widow (1965)
The Stories of John Cheever (1978)
The Stories of the Supernatural (1987)
Collected Stories (1990)
The Uncollected Stories of John Cheever: 1930-1981 (1990)
Fall River (1994)
Thirteen Uncollected Stories by John Cheever (1994)
Best of John Cheever (2001)
Vintage Cheever (2005)
Poolside (2007) (with others)
Collected Stories and Other Writings (2009)
Complete Novels (2009)
A Vision of the World (2021)
Non fiction show
Omnibus editions show
Anthologies containing stories by John Cheever
100 Years of the Best American Short Stories (2015)
(Best American Short Stories)
edited by
Lorrie Moore and Heidi Pitlor
The Best American Short Stories of the Century (2008)
(Best American Short Stories)
edited by
Katrina Kenison and John Updike
More anthologies
Awards
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